Title in the Language of the Collection

Dänemark standesamtliche Trauungen

Record Description

This Collection will include records from 1851 to 1961.

The earliest records are handwritten in narrative style. Beginning in 1923, entries were recorded in books containing preprinted forms. These records cover only individuals who were not members of -- or who chose not to marry in -- the state church. Consequently, the population coverage is quite low. These records do not cover any parts of Denmark that were under German administration to 1920. These counties were Tønder, Haderslev, Åbenrå, and Sønderborg.

The records in this collection are for the years 1851-1959. Please note this collection may have indexes for records that are not included. For example, this collection contains an index to civil marriages in Copenhagen City, 1851-1896, but only has records for 1851-1875.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Civil marriages were first allowed in Denmark in 1851. The marriage was recorded with the district sheriff in rural areas and with the magistrate in cities. The marriage was recorded in special notarial registers. These registers vary in content and arrangement by area. Some include a considerable number of supporting documents, such as baptismal certificates, while others record only the names and residences of the bridal couple. In 1923 the registration process was changed by legislation enacted in 1922. This made the mayor the registering officer in the cities and the parish sherrif the registrar in rural areas. The registration form was also standardized into a columnar format. Regions of Denmark that belonged to Germany had a separate system of registration.

Civil registration of marriage legitimized marriage for members of the population who were not adherents of the state church.

Citation for This Collection

The following citation refers to the original source of the information for collections published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Record Content

These civil marriage records usually contain the following information:

Names of the bride and groom

Marriage date

Ages, and sometimes the birthdates, of the bride and groom

Residence of bride and groom

Occupation of the bride and groom

How to Use the Record

To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page⇒Select the "County"⇒Select the "Municipality"⇒Select the "Record Type and Inclusive Dates" which takes you to the images

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

Civil marriage records are an excellent source for validating the date and place of marriage. If a marriage record for a couple cannot be found in the church registers, the civil marriage registers are an excellent source to check.

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